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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Spotlight & Review - Berman's Wolves by Gretchen SB

Berman's
Wolves

by Gretchen
SB

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Blurb:

When a scientist runs an
experiment on three separate college campuses that goes horribly wrong, several
hundred students find their lives altered forever. They must learn to adapt to
their new lives as Werewolves. Immediately after the incident a government
program was put in place to keep track of these unwitting subjects. After a
year the program falls apart as those in charge argue on how to proceed.

Without the programmers
constantly looking over their shoulders the werewolves have now started to
organize themselves. Creating their own hierarchy and alliances.

Jack is the Alpha of Pacific
Northwest University's pack F. He thought the government had finally taken a
step back and let him and the other Alphas run their packs. Recently, however,
he has been hearing rumblings about the programmers wanting to reinstate the
program. He thought they were just rumors until he finds out one of his pack is
being threatened by several of the lab assistants that took part in the
original experiment. Now Jack must scramble to find allies and hunt down those
threatening his pack. The more he goes looking the bigger the plot becomes.

Berman's Wolves Excerpt:

Lyra knew the Weres who jumped her were members of pack L,
former lab assistants of Berman’s from Pacific Northwest University. They
hadn’t tried to negotiate this time, but had simply jumped her as turned the
corner on her way home from the off-leash dog park in her neighborhood.

As soon as she smelled her attackers
approaching, she turned to Hazel and pretended to have lost her cell phone.
Hazel hadn’t questioned it, just taken Fizgig’s leash from Lyra’s outstretched
hand and continued walking to Lyra’s apartment.

Lyra double-timed it toward the park.
She knew her attackers would follow. All she needed was enough distance between
them and Hazel. Lyra loved Hazel like family, but the other woman was not a
fighter. Hazel would try, but she would only be hurt or used against Lyra. It
didn’t really help matters that Hazel and Lyra knew all of each other’s
secrets. In Lyra’s case some of those secrets could get them killed.

Lyra knew leading the attackers away
from Hazel and the dogs was her best and only option. As the outskirts of the
forested trail closed in around her, Lyra spun and braced herself for the
attack. She could smell the malicious intent like rotting meat rolling off of
them. She had one advantage: they didn’t know how well she could fight. Growing
up in a predominantly male social group, Lyra had honed her skills. They
thought girls were weak. They would underestimate her.Lyra gave a small grin as the three Weres
came into view around the bend.

Lyra posed as if she’d been off-guard
and was helpless, widening her eyes and shrinking away in horror. The tallest
guy headed toward her. Lyra counted, waiting until the last second when his
arms stretched out to grab her. She roundhouse-kicked him in the head. The Were
crumpled. Weres could take and dole out major damage and Lyra was stronger than
most. The blow had landed perfectly, and he’d be out of commission for a few
minutes.

The other two men didn’t make the
same mistake; they rushed her. Lyra backed up. She needed more room than the
thin nature trail provided. She was able to get one punch in to the guy on her
left before the other man grabbed her.

Panic began to rise as a strong arm
banded around her throat. Screaming to herself, she pushed the panic aside. She
struggled to remember the course of action for this type of attack. Using the
heel of her shoe, she stomped on her attacker’s foot. Inwardly she swore as she
connected with a boot—she couldn’t do any damage that way. His arm tightened,
and she knew he meant for her to lose consciousness. That would be bad. She
felt the loss of breath acutely and Lyra knew she had maybe thirty seconds to
get out of the hold before she was incapacitated.

She gave one swift kick behind her as
she dug both her thumbs at her throat to relieve the pressure. Her kick hit
true and her attacker cried out as her heel connected with groin.

She felt the man back up and she
moved the opposite direction, scanning for the Were she’d punched in the
stomach. She didn’t see him, not at first, but what she did see made her curse.

My Mini Review:
I found myself totally drawn into this interesting paranormal tale from the beginning. It is a story of college students being in the wrong place at the wrong time and being changed into....werewolves. This fascinating story tells the tales of Pacific Northwest University Pack F and their struggle to deal with the changes in their lives and their survival of an enemy who will do anything to capture Lyra, a unique woman and pack mate who has many secrets. There are so many marvelous secondary characters that will keep readers from being able to put this book down. The story is very well written and has a mix of suspense, mystery and paranormal elements that work beautifully together. This is the second book of the wonderful Gretchen SB that I have read and she is now on my "author watch list" as I have loved both books and would highly recommend them to lovers of riveting paranormal fiction. Check out "Lady of the Dead"HERE!

Gretchen happily lives in
Seattle, Washington where she spends her time creating new characters and
situations to put them in. She also enjoys cheering on her local sports teams,
even though it sometimes seems they are allergic to winning.

Gretchen has spent most of her
life in Washington state. She graduated from Central Washington University with
a BA in History and a BA in Philosophy. Though there was a brief stint after
college where she lived in Florida and worked for the mouse (Disney World). She
loves that Washington provides a large range of activities, from Shakespeare in
the park to rodeos.

She has had a love of reading and
telling stories as far back as she, or anyone else, can remember.Currently, she loves to read the same genres
she writes. She also loves exploring her home state. At the end of her
adventures she unwinds by curling up on the couch, knitting while catching up
TV shows via Netflix.